Whipped Chocolate Ganache

Place the chocolate chips into a heat resistant bowl (glass or metal) and set aside. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the heavy whipping cream until it just starts to simmer. I always look for small bubbles forming around the edge and a soft simmer starting in the middle. When it's reached this point, pour the cream into your bowl of chocolate, cover it with a plate, and let it sit for 2 minutes.

Whisk the chocolate and heavy cream mixture together until it’s uniform in consistency and there are no bits of chocolate left on your whisk. Cover the surface of the ganache with a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate until the ganache is room temperature. This can take up to 2 hours depending on how deep your bowl of ganache is (the shallower the container the quicker it will set). With my medium sized bowl it took 50 minutes to chill.

When the ganache is ready to whip it will be about the consistency of smooth peanut butter. Use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or a hand mixer, whip the ganache on medium-high speed just until it lightens in color and maintains a nice peak (similar to the consistency of buttercream frosting), about 2-3 minutes**.

Use immediately to fill and frost cakes, pipe onto cupcakes, or fill macarons. If at any point you need to re-whip your chocolate ganache frosting after it's been sitting out, just add it back into your stand mixer with the whisk attachment or use a hand mixer to bring it back to smooth consistency.